The Trojan War
What is an “epic”?
• An epic is a long poem which tells a story
involving supernatural influences & heroic feats.
• Events from epics come from stories that have
been passed down; they are not based on
historical fact
• Typically, epics were shared orally through
narration and music.
• Epics cover a long span of time and vast arrays
of locations.
• The purpose of the epic was to spread beliefs
and values important to the culture of an area
and its people.
Eris, the Goddess of
Discord, was not invited to
a fancy wedding, so she
threw an apple labeled “to
the fairest” into the
banquet hall, knowing it
would begin a fight
between the goddesses.
Zeus, unable to choose
between Hera, Aphrodite,
and Athena, chose Paris,
the cowardly son of King
Priam of Troy to settle the
dispute. King Priam had
been warned in a prophecy
that his son would one day
cause the downfall of
Troy. (foreshadowing!)
The goddesses
offered various bribes
to win Paris’ favor.
Hera promised him all
the lands of Europe &
Asia, Athena
promised to let him
lead the Trojans in
battle against the
Greeks, and
Aphrodite promised
him the most
beautiful woman in
the world.
What did he choose…
The hot girl, of
course… Aphrodite
got the golden apple
and promised Paris
Helen, the fairest
woman in the world.
Unfortunately, Helen
was already married
to Menelaus, the
King of Sparta and
the brother of
Agamemnon, the King
of the Greeks. This
was NOT good…
Paris showed up as a guest of King Menelaus. Greek custom is
that guests are God-sent and that there is a sacred bond
between guest and host.. Paris shredded that bond when he
took Menelaus’ wife. Versions of the story vary – sometimes she
goes willingly because Paris is so handsome; sometimes he
forces her against her will. Definitely changes your perspective
on the whole story…
Helen is often referred to as the “face that launched 1,000
ships” because of the uprising her disappearance caused in
Greece & Sparta. When she was single, her beauty brought
forth many suitors who fought for her affections. Her father
wisely made them all promise that they would defend the one he
chose for his daughter. That’s why so many brave warriors rose
up to help Menelaus get his precious wife back from Troy.
(People kept their promises back then!)
The Greeks had many difficulties before they
could even depart for Troy, including:
•The smartest of the Greeks, Odysseus,
pretended to be insane to avoid leaving
his family to fight a war. He pretended to
be plowing his field with salt, but when
the Greeks threw his baby son in front of
the plow to test him, he caved in and
agreed to go fight.
•Achilles was kept back by his mother
who knew that he was destined to die at
Troy, and she tried to disguise him as a
GIRL, but the Greeks found him, and he
was anxious to fight.
•Artemis was angry with the Greeks for
killing a wild hare & her young, so she
calmed the winds and demanded the
sacrifice of Agamemnon’s daughter
Iphigenia.
Once the Greeks had sacrificed poor Iphigenia and convinced
Achilles and Odysseus to join their ranks, they set sail, knowing
they had a powerful force of soldiers. The Trojans, however,
had their own great heroes. Paris may have been a coward, but
his brothers, especially courageous Hector, known as the horsetamer, were sure to fight bravely for the Trojan cause in order
to defend their honor and that of their wimpy brother.
Hector, like Achilles,
knew he would lose his life
in the battle with the
Greeks, but despite the
pleading of his wife, he
would not back down
from the fight.
The Rage of
Achilles
The battle raged for 9 years and
reached a turning point
thanks to the macho
tendencies of the Greeks.
Back then, after killing the
men, women were taken as
property. Agamemnon
(remember him – the brother
of Helen’s husband and king
of the Greeks) had taken the
daughter of a priest of Apollo
as a prize of war. This angered
Apollo and made him side with
the Trojans. Achilles, enraged
at Agamemon’s selfishness,
convinced the Greeks that
Agamemnon should give up his
prize. Agamemnon then took
Achilles’ trophy girl in
retaliation. Achilles refused
to fight any more with the
Greeks. Silly macho boys!
To make things MORE complicated,
other gods and goddesses got
involved in the conflict. For example:
-Hera & Athena wanted Troy
destroyed in retaliation for
losing the golden apple
-Poseidon also sided with the Greeks
since they were great sailors
-Aphrodite, logically, sided with Paris and the Trojans
since she had won the golden apple.
- Artemis and Ares were attached to Apollo and
Aphrodite in all things, so they preferred Troy.
- Zeus, of course, had to hear all this whining and
bickering and try to decide what to do.
Remember that Achilles had been disrespected by the Greeks, so his
mom turned against the Greeks and wanted them to lose. She was
very beautiful and convinced Zeus, who really liked the Greeks, to
side with the Trojans instead.
For awhile, things went badly for the Greeks. Achilles refused to fight
since the Greeks had taken his girl and dishonored him, and Zeus was
working to help the Trojans in order to please Achilles’ hot mama.
Hector, meanwhile, slaughtered Greeks left and right on behalf of
Troy. Achilles’ best friend Patroclus could not stand to see the Greeks
dying, and he borrowed Achilles’ armor to join the battle. He fought
bravely until he came face-to-face with Hector, who fatally wounded
Patroclus and took Achilles’ armor from the body.
(P.S. In the meantime, Menelaus, Helen’s husband fought Paris and was
winning until Aphrodite saved Paris. (that wimp) The war SHOULD
have ended, but everyone just kept on fighting. Silly macho boys…)
When Achilles heard that
Hector had killed his best friend,
he became enraged. He was
ready to fight again – not to help
the Greeks, but to avenge his
friend’s death. Slashing his way
through the Trojans with his
sword, he found Hector and
killed him. Although Hector
tried to make an agreement with
Achilles that they would return
the loser’s body to his family &
friends, Achilles refused
because he was still furious
about his friend’s death, and
instead he dragged Hector’s
body disgracefully around the
walls of Troy.
Achilles was pretty darned proud of himself until Hector’s
father came and begged for his son’s body. Then Achilles felt
guilty, he gave the body back, and all fighting stopped while the
Trojans properly mourned great Hector’s death. With great
Hector vanquished, Achilles knew he was destined to die soon,
as his mother had always warned him.
Ironically, Paris the wimp caused
great Achilles’ death…but only
because Aphrodite kept saving
him during battle, because
Apollo guided the deadly
arrow, and because Achilles
had one great weakness. As a
child, his mother had dipped
him in the River Styx to make
him invincible. Unfortunately,
her hand covered one small
part of him…his heel. That is
where Apollo guided the deadly
arrow shot by Paris, killing
Achilles instantly.
Today, when we refer to someone’s “Achilles’ heel”, it is
a reference to his or her greatest weakness.
The Greeks almost gave up hope after Achilles’
death, but shrewd Odysseus came up with the
final daring plan to earn victory.
The Greeks knew they had to get
within the walls of Troy, so they
came up with a tricky plan.
They created a huge wooden horse
that would appear to be a gift of
surrender to the gods.
They moved their boats to make it
look as though they had left.
They left one guy behind to act as a
deserter and to explain that the
horse was an offering.
The horse was taken inside the walls
by the unsuspecting Trojans.
That night, the Greeks, who had
been hiding in the hollow horse,
climbed out and attacked the
Trojans, who were now drunk
from partying.
Troy was burned to the ground, and
the Greeks won the LONG war.
But that’s only the end of the
war story! The journey is yet
to begin! Of the 1000 ships
that journeyed to Troy, only
100 were left. Odysseus was
now a hero, but he still
longed for home, and he and
the remaining men
immediately set sail.
Unfortunately, they forgot to
thank the gods for their
victory, and their trouble
begins anew. THAT is the
story of…THE ODYSSEY!